Megistotherium osteothlastes. Illustration and photo-reconstruction of the ancient predator Megistotherium looking for prey in the African savannah. M
Megistotherium osteothlastes. Illustration and photo-reconstruction of the ancient predator Megistotherium looking for prey in the African savannah. Megistotherium is an extinct genus of creodonts, the only known species of which is Megistotherium osteothlastes. It is most likely a junior synonym of Hyainailouros sulzeri. Megistotherium osteothlastes was an enormous hyaenodontid creodont that lived during the early Miocene Epoch some 23 million years ago. It has been found in the Ngorora Formation and Muruyur Formation Kenya, Egypt, Namibia, Uganda and Libya. Named by Robert Savage in 1973, it is one of the largest terrestrial carnivorous mammals known to have existed. It was about meters high at the shoulders and meters in head and body length, with the one meter long tail and 65 centimetre long skull. Its body mass has been estimated at 500 to 880 kilograms.
Size: 6496px × 4329px
Photo credit: © ROMAN UCHYTEL/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ancient, animal, artwork, carnivore, carnivorous, composite, creodonts, extinct, fauna, giant, hyaenodon, hyaenodontid, hyaenodontidae, hyainailouros, illustration, mammal, megistotherium, miocene, palaeontological, palaeontology, palaeozoological, palaeozoology, paleontological, paleontology, paleozoological, paleozoology, predators, prehistoric, prehistory, wildlife
